


after all this time ( i'm still into you )

by dormant_bender



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Character Study, F/M, Feel-good, Feels, First Kiss, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Humor, Inner Dialogue, Jealousy, Movie Quotation(s), Movie Spoilers, POV Third Person, Pre-Relationship, Resolved Sexual Tension, Short One Shot, Spoilers, cliches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 09:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10784367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dormant_bender/pseuds/dormant_bender
Summary: Peter means it when he says he wasn't flirting, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Gamora believes it. Especially when Peter is known for doing just that.[ veryMINORspoilers ]





	after all this time ( i'm still into you )

**Author's Note:**

> these are very, very **MINOR** spoilers from the very beginning of the movie where they meet ayesha. it's nothing that will ruin the movie for you, i promise. it's just how i wish this scene would have went. :p

  


  


Protecting the batteries from the slimy creatures of the faraway planet they had been sent to had proven easier said than done, especially with Groot unable to participate in the battle. Despite the amusing view of him dancing about and offering tiny words of encouragement, the Guardians had managed to defeat the foe and return to Ayesha, which had proved to be a rather uncomfortable experience for one Guardian in particular.

  


Because Ayesha was attractive—gorgeous, even—in her golden glory but it wasn't like she had been relatively self-conscious about the whole ordeal. It didn't matter, honestly, that Peter had shamelessly flirted with the woman upon laying eyes upon her shiny exterior. No, not really. Perhaps it was just the feeling of a cramp coming on after arriving just after exterminating the threat.

  


Because there was no way that Gamora could ever feel self-conscious, especially about something so insignificant and feeble as looks. Sometimes she would wake up early, having been used to such a feat, and would enter the bathroom on-board to stare at herself in the mirror. Emerald green fingers would reach up to ghost along the silver scars that line her skin, gliding across the marred flesh, dark eyes narrowing in scrutiny while her mouth settles into a firm line.

  


Peter had offhandedly mentioned she was beautiful once, but it had soon been followed in the cheeky way that he tends to do. _"Beautiful in a frightening 'you could kill me with a wink of your eye' kinda way."_ At first she had felt the twitch of a smile appearing upon her lips, much like what usually occurs when Peter says something akin to a compliment, but it had quickly faded back into a thin line followed by a roll of her eyes. But still, there was something about that horrendous and obnoxious laugh of his that had her feeling the remnant of a smile creeping up once more as she stalks away to the lonesome of her bunk. 

  


"That stuff about my father.." Peter pauses briefly as he stands before the ombre-haired woman, easily sliding into a gray, tight-fitting shirt before her eyes. And she follows the movements, glancing away and quickly back, seemingly going unnoticed by the half-Terran. "Who does she think she is?"

  


Gamora glances away again, nibbling absently at her bottom lip, still not making eye contact as she releases a sigh. "I knew you were sensitive about that," murmurs the woman as she reverts to tightening the restraints upon Nebula.

  


Peter's brows furrow in response, pulling an incredulous face, as he addresses her once more: "I'm not sensitive about it, I just don't know who he is." Patiently he awaits her reaction, but she gives him none, and he instead glances down and releases another sigh. "Sorry if I seemed like I was flirting with the high-priestess.. I wasn't."

  


Looking more annoyed than anything else that she had potentially been caught in her own personal web of woes, she dismisses the idea entirely and gathers Nebula. "I wouldn't care if you were." retorts the warrior as she leads her sister away from Peter, faintly hearing the stir of movement behind her.

  


Without glancing back, however, Peter speaks again—because one thing about Peter is that he adores having the last word, perhaps it was a Terran thing, or just a childish thing. "I feel like you do care, that's why I'm apologizing. So sorry!"

  


Gamore continues without a hitch in her gait as she transports Nebula, their prisoner, toward a safe location where she would be unable to escape. There were numerous things running rampant throughout her mind as she ponders just what Peter had said to her. As time continues on, he seemed to become more bold and confident when speaking to her about whatever subject he decides to bring up. 

  


And the more and more she finds herself around him, in close proximity without the others around, she realizes that he had been able to read her much like a book. Like she was spread wide open with the pages, albeit possessing a bit of wear and tear, open to just the right chapter to break down the walls she had so strategically placed. As a trained assassin, hiding her true emotions had been a skill, an effortless one that she rarely even thought about when doing a job, but now it seemed to be her downfall.

  


After dealing with Nebula and opening addressing the dysfunction that still remained in their broken relationship, she wanders off and aimlessly strolls throughout the ship in hopes of finding a moment of peace before another situation inevitably popped up. Trouble seemed to follow the infamous Milano, mainly because of Rocket and his sticky fingers that itched to grab and scavenge whatever materials he could get his tiny little paws on.

  


Upon entering her bedroom, she notices one thing in particular sitting in the very center of her makeshift bed. It was Peter's peculiar device that he referred to as _"the greatest thing known in existence"_ ' otherwise known as a "walk-man." More like the most annoying gadget in the galaxy, if she had any say in it. Often she would find him alone in the cockpit, sitting in the crimson leather chair, humming along to whatever song happened to be playing at the time. She would hover by the door, leaning casually on her side, head canting imploringly as she listens to the way he sighs exasperatedly and runs his fingers along the device, like it were the most treasured thing he possessed—and it was.

  


With the stealth of an assassin, Peter manages to sneak up behind her and awkwardly clear his throat as he nods in the direction of the bed. "I, uh—you looked pissed, and I just thought why the hell should I not share and spread the love of music. You know?"

  


Gamora is tempted to glance over her shoulder to peer at the expression he wears, knowing it's probably the dorky grin he was so fond of and perhaps the crinkle of the corner of his eyes. But she doesn't and instead reluctantly mobilizes forward to plop unceremoniously onto the edge of the bed, cautiously touching the device as if it would break beneath her administrations. Peter looks as hesitant as ever, wavering from foot to foot, before following suit and sitting beside her.

  


"Can I?" inquires the brunet, quirking a brow, as he beckons toward the walk-man. Gamora tilts her head in acknowledgement, small smile quirking across her lips, as she hands it over. "Ya' see, no matter how pissed I am or whenever I'm feelin' all angsty, I just give this button right here a pop." He hovers his thumb over the button before pushing down on it, which prompts the tape to play.

  


He reaches for the headphones strewn haphazardly across the bed and places them around Gamora's neck, the emerald woman glancing at him curiously. Peter leans forward to get a better sound of the music himself, scooting across the bed-sheets that audibly crinkle beneath his movements, until he can feel the heat of Gamora's thigh pressed tightly against his own. 

  


"So, uh—Like my music?" He asks hopefully, a small grin appearing upon his lips. "Because I like this song, makes me wanna get up and bust a jam."

  


Gamora coins him a playful scowl as her fingers come up to toy with the plastic headphones, can feel the bass of the music thumping from the foam ear protectors. "This is not music, Peter." informs the woman, nose crinkling. "This is _noise_." 

  


"Well okay, yeah. That's kinda the point though." defends the brunet eagerly with a hearty chuckle, "gotta have the noise to block out everything else, namely the sound of Rocket blowing up things in his room. Or the sound of Drax snoring like that one time Rocket almost blew up the engine." He pauses thoughtfully, glancing at Gamora who stares at him in blatant amusement. 

  


"How is it you manage to remain awake through all of that raucous?" questions Gamora as she continues to toy aimlessly with the plastic, finger trailing down the length of the cord toward the walk-man itself. "Never once have I heard any of that."

  


Peter snorts aloud and attempts to play it off as a coughing fit, but to no avail. He clears his throat, a hand thumping at his chest, as he rights himself once more. "Sorry about that, s'probably cause you sleep like a rock. A literal rock. Just kinda there, not moving or hearing anything. Just—" He notices the way Gamora is looking at him and hushes himself. Hands raise defensively in the air, brows quickly raising and falling, as he looks away and instead folds his hands together. "Anyway, what I said before, I mean it. Wasn't flirtin' or nothing. Just, uh—trying to win favor." 

  


"Right." 

  


Silence drifts throughout the small secluded cot while the two sit there listening to the soft hum of music that spews from the device. The brunet leans closer, impossibly so, and nudges the woman with an elbow to which she responds with a movement of her own. It leaves the man rubbing at his arm with a painful hiss, garnering the latter's attention, who manages to show a semblance of apology in her expression.

  


"If ya' haven't noticed already, I'm sorta kinda really into you."

  


"Into me..?" Perplexity washes over the woman but she feels hesitant to question the meaning behind the sentence. "But you are only beside me, not even near to being inside of me." 

  


Once more the brunet feels a bubble of chuckles building within his chest that he attempts to shield with a hand strategically placed over his mouth. For a considerate moment, he lets his hand linger there, at least until the smile that had plastered across his mouth manages to subdue into nothing less of his usual tiny grin of contentment. 

  


Gamora, however, is staring at him in expectancy as she impatiently awaits a suitable response to the statement she had made prior. Peter just coughs awkwardly, offering a halfhearted shrug of his shoulder. "Figure of speech, I guess..." then his voice lowers, barely audible to the woman beside him: "but I could definitely do that, too.."

  


"What was that?"

  


"Oh, oh yeah. You see, I said 'what's a man to do.' You know, about the whole into you thing. What I'm sayin' is.. I like you. Like, like you-like you." 

  


It's then that a slower, more intimate song begins to play while Gamora registers just what is being said to her. Not that the goosebumps prickling her skin are anything to go by, physical reactions to words were just that—nothing based in logic, that is. But the peculiar thumping in her heart, now, that's something on a whole new level. 

  


She doesn't breathe a word, uncertain of what level of intimacy would be appropriate for a moment like this, so she remains stark still. As per usual, Peter makes the first move, fingers moving sluggish yet sure as he moves to tangle their digits together in a gentle squeeze. She reciprocates with a firm squeeze of her own, which surprisingly doesn't garner a pained grunt from the man.

  


When she glances to the side to take in his facial expression, she finds a pair of jade eyes staring practically into her soul—like he was reading every fiber in her being with just one look alone, like he genuinely knew her inside and out. Like once more, she was an open book just waiting to be read from cover to cover.

  


Unconsciously her breath hitches in anticipation, like she was waiting for something, even if she wasn't sure just what. It was just something about those eyes, so alight and pooling with adoration, that did something silly to her insides that made the stiff interior turn into mush. Jade eyes narrow, as if assessing the situation, before realization becomes apparent in the form of a devious glint as he wets his lips and begins to lean forward.

  


It feels like a millennium passes before, finally, she feels something moist and uncharacteristically soft grace her lips. Something akin to velvet perhaps, that lingers upon her own for the longest, applying the most gentle of pressure for what seems like minutes. She hadn't known her eyes had even closed until she finds her lids fluttering vigorously open to meet a pair of jade eyes once more, this time darker and filled with an entirely different emotion than before.

  


"And that was...?"

  


Peter Quill, resident Star-Lord, chuckles against her lips and brings a hand up to gingerly caress her lavender tinted cheeks. "That, m'lady, was a kiss." He pauses, thinks it over, before tilting his head. "Oh no, wait—that was _way_ too cliche for me."

  


"I think that suits you very well, actually." 

  


Pouting slightly, Peter makes to withdraw from the woman's vicinity, at least until a pair of lips capture his with a confidence that he hadn't been previously expecting. This time, he feels a hint of something warm and wet grace his lower lip, prying for entry to his cavern. And, more surprised than anything, he opens his mouth and manages a sharp gasp as she thoroughly explores his mouth. And, okay yeah.

  


"Now that, that's a kiss. One helluva a kiss, at that." 

  


"If you tell _anyone_ about this, I will _kill_ you."

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> for anyone that really ships these two, i've seen the movie already and i'm telling you that it's great. you'll see gamora do something that you wouldn't expect her to do, so.. look out for that. :) xx
> 
> also: mantis is so adorable, i just can't.


End file.
